Stepping in to tackle a taboo subject of sex, hundreds of British mosques condemned sex grooming in a unified sermon on Friday, 28 June, highlighting Islam’s emphasis on protecting children and the vulnerable. “We are united in our stand against sexual grooming,” Ansar Ali spokesman of Together Against Grooming (TAG) group, was reported as saying on 28 June. “As Muslims, we are leading the effort to rid society of this crime,” he added.
In an effort led by TAG group, Imams at about 500 mosques condemned the sexual grooming of children. The sermon, written by Alyas Karmani, an imam and youth worker in Keighley, West Yorkshire, highlights how the Qur’ān emphasises that Muslims must protect children and the vulnerable. It opens with a quotation from the Qur’ān forbidding “sexual indecency, wickedness and oppression of others”. These “disgraceful actions” must be wholeheartedly condemned, it adds. The sermon also finishes with a call for action, reminding Muslims to speak out if they see any “evil action”.
Along with TAG, a not-for-profit organization set up to tackle sexual grooming in the UK, the sermon is supported by the Muslim Council of Britain, the Mosque and Imams National Advisory Board and the Islamic Society of Britain. Britain is home to a sizable Muslim minority of nearly 2.7 million.